FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of wireless local-area network 100 in the prior art, which comprises: stations 101-1 through 101-N, wherein N is a positive integer, and access point 102, interconnected as shown. Each station 101-i, wherein i is a positive integer in the set {1, . . . N}, communicates wirelessly with other stations in local-area network 100 via access point 102. Station 101-i must be located within a particular distance from access point 102 in order to communicate with access point 102 and other stations in wireless local-area network 100. A popular standard for wireless local-area networks is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification.
FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of two cellular handsets 201-1 and 201-2 that transmit and receive signals via cellular wireless network 200. As shown in FIG. 2, wireless network 200 comprises M wireless switching centers 210-1 through 210-M, where M is a positive integer, and wireless switching center 210-3 communicates with K base stations 220-3-1 through 220-3-K, where K is a positive integer. Each wireless switching center 210-i in wireless network 200 typically is connected to a plurality of base stations; however, for the purpose of clarity, base stations are shown only for wireless switching center 210-3 in FIG. 2.
A hybrid 802.11/cellular telecommunications terminal is a terminal that has both an IEEE 802.11 radio and a cellular radio (e.g., a Code Division Multiple Access radio, etc.), and therefore can send and receive signals either via an IEEE 802.11 local-area network or a cellular network.